Four {!!} New Paint and Prose Prints + a SALE!

November 3, 2016Announcements, Paint and Proseblogabbie

Lindsay and I took a bit of a break from Paint and Prose productivity over the summer due to, um, life…which is even busier than usual for both of us. But we’re always brainstorming new prints, and we managed to get our heads together often enough recently to come up with not one, not two, not three, but FOUR new prints for y’all–just in time for fun occasions like Thanksgiving and Christmas-gift planning (not sure how fun that second part is for everyone, but if we can simplify it at all for you, we’re happy to help!).

First up, we have our Gather print.

I just love how warm and inviting all of the colors are in that fruity, flowery wreath and how that one word–”Gather”–conveys all of the hospitality and togetherness of this season of celebration that we’re entering.

Wouldn’t this be fun as part of a centerpiece for your Thanksgiving table?

I never saw the movie, but our “coffee Coffee COFFEE” print reminds me of a line that I heard multiple times in previews for, “Meet the Robinsons.” A lady is bragging about “the caffeine patch,” which lets her “stay awake for days, with zero side effects”…after which declaration she promptly screams…for no apparent reason. (COFFEE!)

As someone who is not even one little bit affected by caffeine and doesn’t even like the smell of coffee, I had to trust Lindsay (a coffee connoisseur and addict) to steer me right here.

Even without an affinity for the drink, I can still appreciate the graduated levels of intricacy in the design as the “coffee” message escalates until it bursts forth in a profusion of flowers and–yes–coffee beans.

(Somehow, I don’t think, “ho-cho Ho-cho HO-CHO” has the same ring).

And then we have this little gem: “I’m Silently Correcting Your Grammar.”

I had Lindsay whip this one up after my good friend, Jolinda, gave me a mug with the same sentiment on it for my birthday. I posted a pic of it to Instagram and got so many requests for the source (Ross…which, alas, does no one any good, and I couldn’t find it anywhere online) that I knew we needed to fill that grammar snob gap.

I mean, what English teacher wouldn’t LOVE to have this one hanging on her wall or perched on her desk (preferably turned outward so her students can see it and wonder just how many verb tenses they’ve butchered in the last several sentences).

As a former English and Spanish teacher, I would have loved getting this as a Christmas gift (just as I loved getting it as a gift now that I’m a homeschool mama trying to impart the importance of correct syntax to a couple of less-than-enthused elementary school boys).

Aaaaaand finally, we have our “Bouquet of Sharpened Pencils” print.

I’m guessing that 99% of you already know that this is a reference to the part in You’ve Got Mail when Tom Hanks writes to Meg Ryan that he would send her “a bouquet of sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address” (because “don’t you just love New York in the fall?”).

Ha! I’m laughing as I realize that the date and day on my calendar don’t match up. #ohwell

This one would also make a great teacher gift this Christmas. Or one for a lover-of-all-things-You’ve-Got-Mail. (Maybe that’s you?)

Speaking of gifts, we’re making it even easier to snag something to give away (or maybe one for you and one for them), since from now until Monday, you’ll receive a FREE 5×7 with your purchase of any of the four new prints!

No code necessary. Just be sure to TELL US (lots of people forget this part ) in the notes at checkout which 5X7 you want added to your order.

And remember: standard shipping is always free (and a priority upgrade is only $3 more!).

PLUS! If you sign up for our newsletter, you get a code for an extra 10% off that works with all of our sales. Woot!

So…did you have a favorite?

Any suggestions for something you’d love to see us tackle? (We have a really fun design in the works that would be great for a little boys’ room, so stay tuned).

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Do not grow weary of doing good…

April 27, 2016Motherhood, Paint and Proseblogabbie

As a mama to six (barely) under ten, I get weary. Like, fall asleep in the middle of praying at bedtime weary. It’s not that my life is so very hard. It isn’t. I don’t wash our clothes by hand or fetch our water from the river several miles away (both of which my Ugandan friends have to do). I cook dinner most nights, but if I ever don’t feel up for it, I only have to drive a few miles and pick up something already made for me.

My children are sweet and helpful. I genuinely like as well as love them.

But the list of daily tasks is literally never-ending. I never ever get every last thing checked off.

I know yours is too.

It’s the nature of this earthly, toil-filled life. Even if we don’t have to grow every morsel of food we consume, we do have to grocery-shop. Which takes time. So does potty-training and vacuuming and laundry sorting and soccer practice and homeschooling and having meaningful conversations with your teen.

Which is why I feel like I need to tattoo Galatians 6:9 backwards on my forehead so that every time I look in the mirror and notice the dark circles under my eyes and new lines between my brows, I’ll also see these words:

This is seriously my mantra, y’all. “Do not grow weary of doing good.”

Why?

Because, at the proper time, I will reap a harvest IF I DO NOT GIVE UP.

(I don’t know about you, but if all it said was: “Do not grow weary of doing good…just because,” I don’t think I’d be nearly as into it)

This is what I clung to when Ezra constipated himself (which transformed his sunny disposition into that of a crotchety 85-year-old with hemorrhoids) to avoid potty-training for an entire year. And then when he spent years 5-7 melting down over, well, most things. It was my saving grace throughout weeks of waking up 5 times a night to feed twins. And then again when those same twins decided to make car rides moderately torturous experiences for the last year (although, we seem to be mostly out of the woods). It’s my lifeline every time I’m 39 weeks pregnant and fully aware that I probably still have 3 weeks to go.

Do Not Grow Weary

And you know what? It is absolute, God-given truth. I have yet to be disappointed with the harvest of persevering in “doing good” with these short-term “trials.”

Ezra eventually potty-trained…and stopped being so dramatic (he’s a lovely, level-headed, considerate, kind almost-10-year-old now, who folds laundry cheerfully instead of prostrating himself on the ground with weeping and gnashing of teeth. Hallelujah!). The twins eventually slept through the night and haven’t had a full on tandem car tantrum in several months. And somewhere between 41 and 42 weeks, I finally get a baby to snuggle.

I could give you other examples, but suffice it to say that the harvest has been all the sweeter for the struggle (however mild) that preceded it.

I’m so grateful for these little rewards since there are plenty of other things the Lord and I are still plugging away at, which have yet to reveal their harvest.

And praise God that the whole “do not grow weary” part has pretty much nothing to do with feelings. Will I feel weary? Yes. Exhausted? Yup. Despondent? Sometimes.

But if I do not give up, regardless of how I feel, I will receive a harvest at the proper time–even if it’s not the one that I think I should get or in the time frame I was hoping for.

I hope this encourages you as much as it does me.

It’s hardly a magic formula or a carte blanche of “happiness” (because, again, notice it says nothing about how you will feel during this process of perseverance). But it is a promise. And, as Psalm 145:13 says: “Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does.”

Lindsay and I have been wanting to create a print with this verse on it for ages, but…see above about having trouble checking everything off the list.

We’re so glad we managed to get it knocked out before Mother’s Day, though.

Maybe you or a mama you know need this encouragement in your lives?

We just released it today, and now through Sunday, you’ll receive a FREE 5X7 of your choice with the purchase of our “Do Not Grow Weary” print in an 8X10 or larger.

(Just be sure to specify which 5X7 you want in the notes at checkout)

Has this verse proved true in your life too? I’d love to hear about the harvests you’ve seen so far…

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